A68362
13-46476
423
concludes by providing recommendations for the better translation of international human rights standards into the emerging norms and practices that promote access
to information.
II. Activities
of the Special Rapporteur
7. During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur continued to participate in
national and international events relating to the right to freedom of opinion and expression. In June 2013, he presented his annual report to the Human Rights
Council AHRC2340
and Corr.1, in which he addressed the impact of mass surveillance of communications on the rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
8. The Special Rapporteur undertook a mission to Montenegro from 11 to
17 June and a mission to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia from 18 to 21 June. His preliminary findings on both visits are available in the end-of-mission
press statements; a full report will be submitted to the Human Rights Council in 2014. The Special Rapporteur was invited by the Government of Indonesia to visit
that country in January 2013 but, only a few days before its agreed start, the authorities requested that the visit should be postponed. The Special Rapporteur
regrets that, at the time of preparation of the present report, he has not received a response to his request for new dates. In 2011, the Government of Pakistan also
extended an invitation to visit the country but dates for the visit have still not been agreed upon. The Government of Italy has invited the Special Rapporteur to visit the
country in the first half of November 2013.
9. At the time of submission of the present report, the following States had not
yet responded to requests for visits by the Special Rapporteur: Iran Islamic Republic of visit requested in February 2010; Sri Lanka visit requested in June
2009; Thailand visit requested in 2012; Uganda visit requested in May 2011; and Venezuela Bolivarian Republic of visit requested in 2003 and in 2009.
10. In May, the Special Rapporteur participated in the World Press Freedom Day International Conference 2013, held in San José, and used the occasion to hold
working meetings on mechanisms for the protection of journalists in Brazil, Colombia, Honduras and Mexico. Also in May, he visited Uruguay to participate in
discussions on the new legislation on audiovisual services. In July, the Special Rapporteur participated in a public forum organized by the New America
Foundation in Washington, D.C., at which the impact of State surveillance of communications was discussed.
11. For the purpose of the present report, the Special Rapporteur reviewed relevant studies and consulted experts on the right to access information and the right to
truth. The Special Rapporteur organized two expert consultations focusing on the interrelationships between the right to access information and the right to truth. The
first was held in Washington, D.C., in May and the second in Mexico City in July. In May, the Special Rapporteur participated in an expert meeting on the right to
information and national security, convened in Pretoria by the Open Society Justice Initiative; the meeting resulted in the presentation of the Global Principles on
National Security and the Right to Information.
2
__________________
2
Available from www.opensocietyfoundations.orgpublicationsglobal-principles-national- security-and-freedom-information-tshwane-principles.
A68362
523
13-46476
III. The right to truth and the right to access information
